Destroying DOMAAttorney General Martha Coakley deserves three cheers for taking the initiative to eradicate the loathsomely conceived Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a shameful piece of 1996 legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton that prevents the more than 16,000 legally married Massachusetts gay and lesbian couples from enjoying federal tax, retirement, insurance, Social Security, and other benefits that straight couples take for granted.

Governor Deval Patrick likewise deserves a tip of the hat for approving the suit.

This makes Massachusetts, the first state to offer same-sex couples full marriage rights, the first state to challenge DOMA.

The legal battle will be long and torturous, but it should embolden other states to take similar steps until Congress — along with the overt leadership of President Obama, who has disappointingly retreated from his promises as Candidate Obama to right the wrongs of both "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and DOMA — has the decency to repeal these anti-gay laws.

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by the Islamic Society of Boston.

The Manhattan project "Was I a coward to abandon the broken down mechanics that crowned Biggie Smalls as the king of Atlantis?" asks Providence-based wordsmith B. Dolan.

Dictator McCain? The only thing standing in the way of Republican John McCain assuming the powers and prerogatives of a dictator should he be elected president is the vote of a single Supreme Court justice.

Living la vida Republican Trying to find college Republicans in Boston is like looking for a flattering pair of jeans: they’re elusive — either too stiff or completely out of style.

Interview: Stacy Keach "He was Satan personified," says Stacy Keach, who has signed on to play our second-worst commander in chief in the national tour of Frost/Nixon.

MERCY AND SAL DIMASI | March 13, 2013 When it comes to showing a modicum of mercy to some of those convicted of federal crimes, Barack Obama is shaping up to have the worst track record of any president in recent memory.

NEXT, MARRIAGE EQUALITY | March 05, 2013 On March 27 and 28, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in two cases that could essentially put America on the road to full marriage equality.

THUS SPAKE MARKEY | February 26, 2013 Last week, Congressman Ed Markey inadvertently injected some daring political thinking and a touch of historical imagination into the race to fill the US Senate seat vacated by John Kerry's appointment as secretary of state.

DRONES: 10 THOUGHTS | February 20, 2013 Foreign drone attacks are almost (but not quite yet) as American as apple pie.